Hot-water supply.



PATENTED DEC. 17, 1907.

D. S. COLE.

HOT WATER SUPPLY.

APPLICATION FILED 0011s, 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 3, W JAM No. 873,842. PATENTED DEC. 17, 1907.

D. S. COLE. HOT WATER SUPPLY.

APPLICATION FILED OUT. 13, 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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DWIGHT S. GOLE, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

HOT-WATER sUPPLv.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 17, 1907.

Application filed October 13. 1906. Serial No. 338.696.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DWIGHT S. COLE, a citizen of the United States, anda'resident of Detroit, in the county of Wayne and Stateof Michigan, haveinvented a new and Improved Hot-Water-Supply System, of which thefollowing is a specification.

An object of my invention is to provide an apparatus for increasing thepossibilities of service of all sizes of automatic Water heaters-thespecial value of the invention being, that it enables the smaller sizesof such heaters to render much greater service than has heretofore beenpossible.

Another object of my invention is to provlde an'automatic hot watersupply system which is positive and reliable, easily assembled andinstalled, and easily and cheaply constructed.

A further object of my invention is to provide an automatic hot Watersupply apparatus whereby an ample store of hot water may be produced,and then delivered at a rate exceeding the heating capacity ofthe-apparatus during the time of delivery; and in which, after thestored hot water has been exhausted, the heater will continue to deliverhot water at its fullest capacity so long as the delivery system remainsopen to permit such delivery.

As heretofore constructed and installed,

automatic water heaters have had to be of a size and capacity to heatall the waterrequired for maximum service at the rate of deliverythecost of such large heaters being so great as to greatly limit their use.Moreover, the large quantity of gas necessary to supply the burners ofheaters of such large size cannot ordinarily be liad on the premises andthe cost of providing this large necessary as supply is often veryconsiderable-thus urther limiting the use of such heaters.

The common and well-known type of hot water service, in which anon-automatic gas heater of small capacity is connected to anordinary'storage tank of adequate size, does not render as ellicient,safe or economic service as is rendered by employing an automatic heaterinstalled in connection with a special tank or receiver as provided in'my new hot water supply system. Where the former system is employed,very hot Wateris unobtainable until a considerable portion of thecontents of the storage receptacle has been more or less heated theheated water cannot be discharged without the introduction of a likequantity of cold water into the tankthus cooling the heated water sothat no considerable portion of the hot water can be dischar ed at auniformly high temperature, and 516 operation of the system is subjectto the dangers and errors of dependence upon personal manipulation forignitionand control.

In my improved hot water supply system, the entire quantity ,of waterintroduced into the storage tank is fully heated at the rate of itsintroduction while passing through the automatic heater the entirequantity or any. portion of the hot water in the storage receptacle canbe withdrawn Without the introduction of any additional water, eitherhot or coldthus providing economic and eflicient operation, and as theheater is wholly automatic in operation, all dangers from errors inpersonal manipulation are eliminated. It is thus obvious that my new hotwater supply system achieves new and useful objects.

I attain the objects above set forth in the construction shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a eneral view of my improvedhot water supp y system. Fig. 2 is a cross section of a desirable formof air valve.

Similar reference characters refer to like parts throughout the severalviews.

In the drawings the service pi e 1 connects to the source of water so py and to the automatic fuel governing va ve 8, which may be similar tothat shown and described in my former patent No. 715,551, dated Dec.9,1902, or any other desirable valvev for controlling the fuel supplyoperated by the pressure of the water passing therethrough may beemployed. Connected to. this valve 8 is a coiled tube 2, the other endof which connects to the hot water delivery system ofpi es 3.

A hood 4 surrounds the coil 2 in whic the water is heated, to preventexcessive waste ofthe heat and the flue 5 carries ofi the .wasteproducts of combustion.

'The gas burner 6 is shown to be in the form of a hollow perforated ringand fuel is supplied to it by means of the pipe 7 Any other automaticheater may be employed in place of the construction shown.

The hot water delivery system 3 is formed of pipes considerably largerin diameter and ca acity than the heating coil 2, and is provi ed with aseries of faucets or valves 11 for drawing ofi the hot water. A valve 10may be connected into the system to limit the 62'against which t efioat61 seats whenever regulate the temperature at which water may bedischarged from the heater. i

A pipe 12 connects the delivery pipe sys- J term 3 with the storage tank14 and is provided with a valve 13 to admit of cutting off the tank fromthe delivery pipe system, as will be explained later. The ca )acity ofthis pipe 12 is greatly in excess of t at of the coiled tube 2. The tank14 is provided with. an air valve 15, and this valve withan overfiowpipe 16 to carry off any water that passes the valve when the same isnot in cod 0 erative condition. This tank, whic is t e type to bepreferred in connection with this system of supplying hot water, ismounted at a sufficient elevation so that the Water in the tank may bedischarged through the outlets 11 by gravity.

Enclosing the tank 14 is a casing 18, and packed between the casing andtank is a nonconducting filler 19, such as felt or asbestos, which willminimize the loss of the heat from the Water in the tank by radiation.

While I ma employ'any good type of air valve, that s own in Fig. 2 ispeculiarly adapted for use with this system. The body ortion 41 has achamber 42, cap 43 for guidlng the lower portion 44 of the valve stem,diaphragm 45, washers 46, upper part 47 of the valve stem, extension 48of the body pro-' vided with valve seat 49 and the connection 50 screwedon to the extension. The pipe 16 is the same as shown in Fig. 1. Thepart 47' of the valve'stem has a valve 51 and an enlarged portion 52which fits the bore 53 of the extension 48, and the lower end has a head54 which limits the action of the spring 55. The body has two passages56 and 57 that connect with the chamber 58. A receptacle59 is attachedto the body as shown and is provided with shoulders 60 u on which the holow ball or float 161 normal y rests. The body portion 41 is rovidedwith a valve seat Water asses from the tank to the valve. The

operation of this valve is as follows. While an passes into or out ofthe tank, the float 61 will rest on the shoulders 60, leaving spacesbetween the shoulders for the passage of the air which flows throughpassa e 56, bore 53 and pipe 16. When the tank is filled, Water enteringthe chamber 58 will lift the float 61,

pressing it against the seat 62 thus closing the passage 56, and at thesame time it will pass through passage 57 into chamber 42 and acting onthe diaphragm 45 pull the valve 51 against its seat 49. While there is apossibility that some water may pass around the float into 'passage 56,and from the chamber 42 around the part 52 of the stem, the valve 51will seat itself perfectly because of the great area of diaphragm- 45.This style of valve is adapted for high pressures.

' must be provided for.

When the tank is full of water and the 11 are opened so as to permit ofthe discharge of water at a more rapid rate than the heater can supplydirectly the fall of pressure in the delivery pipe system 3 will relievethe pressure on the water in the elevated tank 14 and thence upon thediaphragm 45 of the air valve 15 and the spring 55 will lift the valvestem 47 with the valve 51 attached and thus 0 en the valve and freelyadmit air through t e bore 53 passages 56, chamber 58, and connection 22to the tank.

rate of discharge from the heater and thus I system-is closed, if one ormore of the faucets For laundry and bath tubsof dwellings, aninterrupted service at the rate of from three to five gallons of hotwater per minute is usually desired, the amount of each periodicdelivery being from fifteen to twenty gallons, and the intervals betweenperiods of de livery are generally not less than fifteen. minutes. Inaddition to this periodic service, a smaller and instant lavatory andkitchen service requiring a delivery of from one and one half to twogallons per minute It is obvious that a heater having a capacity of fromone and one half to two gallons perininute is sufficient for the abovedemands if satisfactory storage for the larger eriodic service of hotwater he provided. T e storage requirements can ordinarily be met by atank of from 15 to 20 gallons capacity, having a discharge pipe of suchsize as to convey the maximum quantity of hot water desired per minuteunder the gravity head due to the elevation of the tank above thedelivery outlets.

The gas for supplying a heater ofthe capacity designated can ordinarilybe supplied by a one-half inch gas pipe connected to the regular houseservice supply pipe, thus rendering the cost for gasconnection veryslight.

Referring to the drawings, the heater coil 2 may have a capacity of fromone and one half to two gallons and the pipe 12 and'pipes 3 a capacityof four or five gallons per minute and the tank 14 a storage capacity offrom fifteen to twenty gallons. empty tank 14, and valves 9 and 10 open,as

soon as valve 13 is opened, water will pass through regulator 8, heatingcoil 2, and pipes 3 and 12 into the tank until it is filled and valve 15is closed by the water reaching it. The instant the air valve 15 is thuscaused to close (the outlets 11 all being closed) the system is sealedand the regulator 8 of the heater operates to shut off the gas supply toburner 6,-the pilot burner 40 burns constantly..

With the tank 14 filled with hot water and the system sealed, if anyfaucet 11 be opened to an extent permitting a discharge not greater thanthe heater can supply directly, there is no discharge of water from thetank 14, all the hot water discharged coming directly from the. heater.It is thus obvious that the tank 14 has no part in all service re-Starting with an f quiring hot water at no greater rate than the heatercan supply directly, such as. to lavatories and ordinary kitchenservice. When, however, the rate of discharge from a faucet 11, or'twoor more of them open at the same time, is in excess of the rate ofdelivery directly from the heater, all excess of discharge will besupplied from the tank until the entire quantity of stored hot water hasbeen discharged, after which the rate of discharge through open faucets11 will continue constant at the full capacity of the heater so long asthe faucetsremain open. After such rapid withdrawal of hot water hasoccurred and the faucets '11 are closed the heater will continue tooperate until the entire amount of hot water withdrawn from the tankhasbeen replaced and the system is again sealed by the automatic -closingof air valve 15.

In practice the valve 13 in pipe 12 is closed immediately after the lastof the series of successive large withdrawals for baths or laundryservice and the storage tank remains shut-ofi and empty duri which issupplied direct y by the heater. When the large periodic delivery forbaths or laundry is again desired the valve 13 is opened a few minutesin advance of the first withdrawal and the tank is filled with freshlyheated water. During the period which intervenes between successivewithdrawals for filling the bath or laundrv tub the tank isantomatically refilled with freshly heated water and the heaterautomatically turned off when the tank is filled, as heretoforedescribed.

Should the water remain in the tank for a described, may have anordinary direct serv ice capacity of a certain number of gallonsperminute, and at the same time an intermlttent extraordinary servicecapacity several times as'great; while at the same time,

the gas service for the heater need be but sufficient for the ordinarycapacity.

- The cost of this improved a paratus willpractically be that f the usuadirect automatic heater of th .mall capacity with the cost of the tankadded, while its possibilities of service will be that of a directautomatic heater of a much larger capacity.

Having now explained my lmprovernents what I claim as my invention anddesire'to ordinary service,

a water heater including automatic means for controlling the action ofthe heatlng agent by the fioW of water through the heater, a storagetank connected with the heater only through the hot water discharge pipefrom the heater, means for restricting the amount of water passing fromsaid heater into the storage tank and permitting the free dischargethereof, and a service pipe connecting to both heater and storage tank.

2. A hot water supply system, comprising a Water heater including aheating coil and automatic means for controlling the action of theheating agent by the flow of water through the coil, one end of saidcoil being connected to the main water supply system, a storage tankconnected into 'said system, and a service pipe of greater capacity thanthe heater coil connecting to both the storage tank and the delivery endof the heater coil and adapted to simultaneously convey the contents ofthe storage tank and the water passing through the heater.

3. A hot water supply system, comprising a water heater including aheating coil of limited capacity and a burner controlled by the flow ofwater through said coil, one end of said coil being connected to thewater supply system, a receiver for hot water adapted to be alternatelyfilled and emptied, a discharge pipe for said receiver having a capacitygreatly in excess of that of the heater coil, and a connecting pipeextending from the delivery end of the heater coil to said dischargepipe, the flow of water to the hot water receiver being restricted tothe limited capacity of the heater while the flow'from the receiver isunrestricted.

4. In a hot water supply system, the combination of a water heaterCOI11pI1S1I1g automatic means for controlling, the heating agent and aheating coil of limited capacity connected at one end to the watersupply system, a storage tank,-'a delivery pipe of large' capacityconnecting to the delivery end of the coil and to said storage tank,.andfaucets or valves connected to said delivery pipe, said parts being soproportioned that when the faucets are closed, a restricted supply ofwater passing through the heater coil and delivery pipe will fill thetank, and when the discharge faucets areropen, the discharge of waterfrom the heater coil and from the tank will be simultaneous andunrestricted from the tank. p

In testimony whereof I have signed m name in the presence of twosubscribing witncsses. I

' DWIGHT s. COLE.

